Song of the Little Hawk

Am I alone And unobserved? I am!

Then let me own I'm an aesthetic sham!

This air severe Is but a mere Veneer!

This cynic smile Is but a wile Of guile!

This costume chaste Is but good taste Misplaced!

Let me confess! A languid love for lilies does not blight me! Lank limbs and haggard cheeks do not delight me! I do not care for dirty greens By any means. I do not long for all one sees That's Japanese. I am not fond of uttering platitudes In stained-glass attitudes. In short, my medievalism's affectation, Born of a morbid love of admiration!

If you're anxious for to shine in the high aesthetic line as a man of culture rare, You must get up all the germs of the transcendental terms, and plant them everywhere. You must lie upon the daisies and discourse in novel phrases of your complicated state of mind. The meaning doesn't matter if it's only idle chatter of a transcendental kind. And everyone will say, As you walk your mystic way, "If this young man expresses himself in terms too deep for me, Why, what a very singularly deep young man this deep young man must be!"

Be eloquent in praise of the very dull old days which have long since passed away, And convince 'em, if you can, that the reign of good Queen Anne was Culture's palmiest day. Of course you will pooh-pooh whatever's fresh and new, and declare it's crude and mean, For Art stopped short in the cultivated court of the Empress Josephine. And everyone will say, As you walk your mystic way, "If that's not good enough for him which is good enough for me, Why, what a very cultivated kind of youth this kind of youth must be!"

Then a sentimental passion of a vegetable fashion must excite your languid spleen, An attachment à la Plato for a bashful young potato, or a not-too-French French bean! Though the Philistines may jostle, you will rank as an apostle in the high aesthetic band, If you walk down Piccadilly with a poppy or a lily in your medieval hand. And everyone will say, As you walk your flowery way, "If he's content with a vegetable love which would certainly not suit me, Why, what a most particularly pure young man this pure young man must be!"

Rapaire - I don't want to shake your world to its very foundations and destroy your faith in humanity, but...

I think there is a slight possibility you will not be receiving those lottery winnings any time soon. There are people out there who tell lies about this sort of thing! I know it's hard to face up to, but you may have been bamboozled. Just a slight chance. Prepare yourself for the worst.

There was movement at the Mudcat, for the word had passed around That the goat from Little Hawk had got away, And had joined the wild bush goats -- he was worth a thousand bucks, And Bruce Murdoch wandered over to the fray. All the tried and noted catters from the countries near and far Had mustered at the MOAB overnight, For the catters love hard hunting where the wild bush goatses are, And the MOAB sniffs the battle with delight.

I like that, WWADC. I like it so much that it has prompted my next act!

I received the following email today. Since the folks at UK Lotto have so badly let me down ("A little bit of Lotto left me down" -- there's a song in that) I have sent Mrs. Khalid's address and information to them! AND I've sent their information to her!

Here's her email to her, and gee, I didn't even know her before this!

No: 24A Idrisa Road, Baghdad. Republic of Iraq. Salam Greetings to you in the name of our Allah i got your e mail through the help of my nurse who scanned the internet and gave me your mail. I am Mrs Mariam Khalid a devoted muslim,a new muslim convert of 74 years old after being converted from a christian family by my husband.For quite a good number of years now,I have been suffering from cancer of the breast and fibroid of the womb which has for a long time now affected my health and from all indications my condition is deteriorating by day and by my doctor's prediction I have less than six months to live.

My husband who is now late was killed during the US/British attack against the president of my country (Sadam Hussain).My late husband was a member of the contract award committee of the republican ministry of petroleum and resources of Iraq under the regime of Sadam Hussein

Throughout the period of my marriage with my husband,all efforts to bear children proved abortive because of my poor state of health.My husband was a very wealthy and influential man during the post war Iraq. After his death,I inherited all his wealth since he has no other next of kin.

Since it is now obvious that I may not survive my poor state of health, I have deemed it necessary to leave a legacy on Earth and give a positive account and justification of the life I lived on Earth before the Almighty Allah. This I want to achieve by committing part of this wealth in all sincerlity to fund , Islamic orphanages,widows and the less priviledge peoples all over the world. I know that afterdeath, I will be with ALLAH the most beneficent and the most merciful. Please, note that this sum(us$35 Million) was securely deposited in a security/financial company overseas in my name by my husband . I have highlighted my attorney on the said sum and all the possible assistance he would render to you on the documents covering the money so as to enable you receive it as I cannot follow it up because of my ill health,this e mail is being written for me by the nurse in my private hospital.Presently, my attorney is in Europe waiting for anybody willing. I will also issue you a letter of authorization to anable the money be paid to you.I want you and the Muslim community and all servants of the almighty where you reside to always pray for me .It does not matter your religion or wether i trust you but do actualize my dreams with this money for the sake of the almighty.My happiness is that i lived a life of a true devoted life worthy of emulation.

Lastly, I honestly pray that this money when remitted to you will be judiciously used for the said purpose and you will take 10% as a compensation for your assistance in carrying out these humanitarian services.

Whoever wants to serve God must serve him in truth and in fairness. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Any delay in your reply will give me room to source for another person or a devoted muslim for this same purpose.Until I hear from you, my dreams will rest squarely on your shoulders. May the almighty ALLAH continue to bless you

Look, man, no matter how many hits Big Bill takes, no matter how badly torn his T-shirt, no matter how sweaty and tousled he becomes...he always triumphs at the end of each episode. That tells you something.

I also bought numbers 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000 and 10000 while I was at it.

And I'll defend them! Anyone who tries to take them will have water balloons flung their way! This is not an empty threat! I have water balloons and I'm not afraid to us them! To prove it, here's a picture of me, assisted by two of my allies, launching a test shot (photo taken by a CIA spy satellite).

I also have a receipt. In Khandu's handwriting. And it's the first by date, being dated "15 Thermidor 1793". He said it was "revolutionary" while he skipped away singing something that sounded like "...for tonight we'll Marat be...."

As for Amos, I can only say that I have it on excellent authority that his mother wears Army boots and sings out of tune.

Don't count yer mangos before they ripen. I have good reason to believe Khandu sold you a counterfeit copy for post 4000. Specially since I already know of 3 other people he has sold the same thing to! This is fraud. I am investigatin' and it is my opinion that Khandu is gonna be in deep shit over this.